Continuous drier



April 10, 1945. L; R. CHRISTIE C ONTINUOUS DRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27, 1943 LIN DSAY R. CHRISTIE, INVENTOR a a/ k/ gd ATTORNEY Aprll 10, 1945. R. CHRISTIE CONTINUOUSDRIER 2 Shee vs-Sheet 2 LINDSAY R, CHRISTIE INVENTOR Filed Feb. 27, 1945 ATTO NE Patented Apr. 10, 1945 UNITED: STATES PATENT OFFICE I g I 2,373,382

I CQNTINUOUS DRIER Lindsay R. Christie, New York, N. Y. I 7

Application February 27, 1943, Serial No. 477,357 (0134-92) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a continuous drier which may be utilized for drying various materials, some of which may not require the use of a vacuum in connection with the apparatus, but I have chosen to show in the drawings, to which reference will be later made, means for applying a vacuum to the drier.

It is one of the objects of my present invention to provide a drier of the so called rotary type in which the heating means re so arranged that the .material to be dried has a larger and more direct contact area with the heating means; or,

stated in another way, a structure in'which a maximum surface area of the drying mea'nsis provided for a given size of drum.

A'further object of my invention is to provide a structure in which the heating means are so arranged as to make it much easier to clean out or kee the interior of the apparatus clean.

Another decided advantage which I have obtained'by the construction hereinafter described is an arrangement in which the interior portion of the drier is, in effect, divided into compartments whereby the material being dried will conthat this manner of distribution of the material within the drum tends to counter-balance the material being lifted up on the up-side of the revolution of the drum, thereby obtaining a more nearly balanced arrangement of the material .within the drum and giving a, more uniform distribution of power conveyed to the drum by the rotating means. 4 Another advantage of my present constructio is the manner of taking air out of the pipes when steam pipes are used as the heating means, and a still further advantage is the means of removing the condensed steam from the heating pipes. Other and further objects and advantages will appear to one skilled in this art from a reading of the following specification taken in connection 4 with the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal view of the apparatus partly in section and partly in elevation.

Figure 2 is a view of the left-hand end of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

5-5 of Figure 1, the drawing being on an enlarged scale from that shown in Figure 1.

Figure '7 is a section on-the line of Figure lon an enlarged scale from. Figure 1. v

Figure 8 is a section on the line 88 of Figure 6.

' Figure 9 is a. section on the line 9-9 of Figure 6.

Figure 10 is a view on the line Ill-40 of Figure 6'.

' Figure 11 is a view on the line I|--H of Figby heads 2 and 3 and may be rotatably mounted on supports 4 and 5 carrying bearings 6 having hollow journals forming parts of the heads 2 and 3.

In the drawings I have illustrated the heating means as steam pipes or tubes and these are arranged within the shell I and arcuately spaced therefrom by a, space I. The tubes which are arranged around the inner peripheral portion of the shell I are numbered 8. Additional tubes 9 are arranged in the manner shown in Figure 4 in which the tubes 9 are arranged in two double rows on substantially near diameters at right angles to each other. In some cases I prefor to make a :complete separation of the tubes by using plates IDA which are arranged longitudinally of the shell I and at right angles to each other, bcing fastened to the shell as by welding, thereby forming individual compartments It.

"The tubes 8 terminate in and are suitably fastened to the interior portion of a circular header or steam chamber II which, it will be noted, is located at the discharge end of the drier and has vertical and horizontal cross-pieces conforming to the plates IDA to receive the tubes 9, which cross-pieces are provided with openings l5 to al-' low the material being dried to pass by the header H. I

Connected to the header or steam chamber H, are pipes I2, there being four of these preferably arranged ninety degrees apart as shown in Figure 7. These pipes I2 terminate in a fitting or casting l3 to which is connected a pipe N that extends outwardly to a fitting 16 having a discharge pipe l9 which leads to a steam trap. An air vent 20 is provided in the fitting [6 for the purpose of letting out any entrapped air that may come through the pipe Mite which reference will be later made A steam inlet pipe 21 extends from a supply line or pipe 22 through a suitable fitting to the casting or fitting I3 and 1 hc same as the structure 29.

by the bearing 42 and at its inner end by a bracket 43 fastened to the head 2 of the drier. Packing glands 44 are used at the points indicated to prevent leakage. of any kind at these points. A conically shaped chamber 34 is used to feed the material from the conveyor 33 to the various compartments I0 of the drier as it is rotated. Since the drum is set at a slight angle, the material is carried through the compartments in to the discharge end beyond the header H where buckets 36 pick up the dried material and deposit the same on another worm or conveyor mounted on and carried by the pipe l4. By this means the dried material is carried into a dischargevstructure 31 having lock gates After passing through the discharge structure 31, the material into the discharge pipe I4. The pipes Hare prof t vided with steam outlets 23 which allow the steamy which accumulates in the pipes i2 to go into the upper partof the header 11,- thereby allowing pipes 12 when in-their uppermost position, it being understood that thepipes 12 are provided with gravity-operated check valves I2A, the valves being constructed and arranged so that they open by gravity only when the pipes 12 are in th uppermost region, thereby passing the condensed steam or drip water into the pipe I4 and into the outlet l9 and preventing it from returning by gravity to the header l I. To direct the water into the pipes l2, shut-off plates 1 IA within the header are used at the points indicated in Figure 7.

In order to draw any air out of the pipes .8, or 9 at the loading'or feeding end of the drier, I have provided-a circular tube 24 having four branches 24A toycon-form to the vertical and horizontal positions of thetubes- 9. i The tubes 24 and 24A are connected Preferably by flexible connectors 25, as shown, to each'of the tubes 8 and 9. The

four branches or leader 24A from the circular,

pipe 24 feed into a centrally located pipe 26 which is positioned at the junction of the plates "MA and may be welded thereto.

The pipe 26 runs longitudinally of the drier back into the fitting l3 by wayof the hole 26A (Figure 9). A partition plate 2-! in the fitting l3 (Figure 6) helps to define four openings 26B (Figure 9) to pass radially from the axis of the I pipe 26. Since the steam coming through the pipe 2| and the openings l IB (Figure 8) passes by the edges of the plate 21 inthe direction of the arrow 28, this tends to draw the air out of the passages 263 into the header from which the air is passed through the pipes I2 into the pipe l4 and out through the automatic vent valve 20.

The material is fed to the drier through a structure generally referred to as 29 having a pluralityof gate looks a, VI) and'c. These gate locks are of standard construction and will not bedescribed in detail herein, it simply being mentioned.

that they are operated by amotor M through the medium of cams in propertimed relation. The motor M operates a valve 30 (Figure 2) in the pipe 3|"which connects to the interior of the feed hopper and produces a vacuum in the chamber between the gate locks 12 and c as required, t A vacuum is obtained in the drier, when .desired, throughthe medium of pipes 32and 32A.

' A worm orconveyor 33 is carried on the'pipe 32A which is supported for'rotation at its outer end is moved ontoany suitable type of conveyor to be carried off to be packed or otherwise utilized. The shell or drum l carries a gear 38 which is connected through a reducing gear mechanism 4| to a drive motor 40. The drier is preferably provided with a, manhole 39 so that a person can get into thecompartments H) to do any cleaning or repairing required therein, it being understood that-a; drier of this type is of considerable diameter and length. Where the drier is of considerable length, I prefer to support the pipes 8 and 9 interiorly of the shell I at one or more points intermediate their ends, two such points beingindicated in Figure 1, and such supports are illustrated in Figure 12 by the plates 8A which are in the form of sectors having holes 83 therein for the pipes 8 and 9 and openings 8C through which the material passes. The plates 8A are preferably tack-welded to the shell I and to the plates 1A.- s r At first glance it might appear that these support plates 81A act as obstructions to the passage of material through the drier, but, as a matter of 'factrthey serve as mixers, it being understood that the rotation of the drier is relatively slow, being of the order of four R. P. M. for certain materials.

It will be apparent that various changes may be made in the details without departing from the general purpose and construction herein described; for example, steam jackets or electric heating elements may be used in place of the steam tubes-illustrated.

What I claim is:

1. A continuous drier comprising a drum rotatably mounted at an incline from the loadin end downwardly to the discharge end, with means for rotating the drum, a header forming a steam chamber at the discharge and of the drum, plates positioned at right angles to each other and extending longitudinally of and fastened to the wall ofthe drum from said header to a point near the loading end of the drum, thereby forming a plurality of separate compartments, pipes fastened to and extending from the header longitudinally of the drum and arranged, some around the inner periphery of the drum but spaced 9.

short distance rtherefrom, while the others are arranged in adiacent rows on two diameters at substantially right angles to each other in close proximity to said plates, means for closing off the ends of the pipesnear the loading end of the charge end of the drum, means for discharging the air and water, and means for conveying the dried material from the drum.

2. A continuous drier comprising, an outer shell with means for rotatably supporting it and means for rotating it, plates within and extending longitudinally of the shell dividing it into compartments, pipes extending longitudinally of the shell and spaced adjacent from the shell and compartments, means including a header or chamber to dried material from the discharge end of the drier.

3. A continuous drier as defined in claim 2, further characterized in that said closing means comprises a circular tube-fitting within the shell,

with transverse leaders extending toward the axis of the shell, connectors extending from said pipe ends to the circular tube and leaders as described,

and a pipe comprising said return means located at the axis of the shell into which said leaders extend. l

4. A continuous drier comprising, an outer shell with means for rotatably supporting it in an inclined position and means for rotating it, plates within and extending longitudinally of the shell dividing it into quadrant having walls extending from the inner periphery of the shell to lines near the central longitudinal axis of the shell, pipes extending longitudinally of the shell and spaced from, but adjacent to the shell and along the entire width of said plates, means including a header or chamber to which the pipes are attached for passing steam into the pipes at the discharge end of the drier, means at the charging end of the drier for closing the pipe ends, said closure mean also serving to remove any air that may be at these ends of the pipes, means for returning said air to said header, and further means for removing it from the header, mean for feeding material to the charging end of the drier, means for applying a vacuum to the shell at a point where the material to be dried is about to pass into said quadrant, and means for removing the dried material from the discharge end of the drier.

5. A continuous drier comprising an outer shell with means for rotatably supporting it in an inclined position with means for rotating it, aheader forming a steam chamber at the discharge end of the drier, pipes fastened to and extending from the header longitudinally of the shell and arranged, some around the inner periphery of the shell but spaced therefrom, whil the other are arranged on near diameters, a centrally located fitting carried by the header with a steam feed pipe connected thereto, the fitting having passages leading from said feed pipe into said chamber, a discharge pipe surrounding said feed pipe, means for closing off the ends of the first-mentioned pipes near the loadihg end of the drier, means for taking away any air or vapor fromisaid closure means and conveying said air and water or vapor to said fitting, the fitting having passages leading from said conveying means into said chamber, drip pipes having check valves therein extending from the chamber and leading into said discharge pipe to pass said air or water from said chamber to said discharge pipe, means for feeding the material to be dried to the loading end of the drier, and means for conveying the dried material from the drum.

6. A continuous drier as set forth in claim 5, further defined in that means areassociated with said fitting for producing a suction on said air and water vapor conveying means.

'7. A continuous drier as set forth in claim 5, further defined in that means are provided for removing steam from said drippipe to allow air and water to readily pass through the drip pipes into'said discharge pipe.

LINDSAY R. CHRISTIE. 

